Japan Society of New York was one of the pioneers of cultural exchange in the early 20th century. Begun in a time when few Americans knew anything about Japan, it quickly reached a wider audience than the few learned societies that focused on Asia at the time. Japan Society not only hosted leading Japanese visitors to the United States, it sponsored the first important exhibitions of Japanese art, published important books on Japan written by American experts, and promoted the study of Japan in American schools and universities by distributing learning materials and providing funds for prizes at the collegiate level. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, it became the leading forum for Japanese to encounter their American counterparts abroad.